


Restless

by shes_my_joy



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Angst, Crack, Everyone's an Idiot, F/F, Fluff, I apologize in advance, What is the meaning of life, dahyun has no idea what's going on like ever, j-line are all kitsune, jihyo is that tired mom friend, music producer dahyun, oh my god the amount of crack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 08:15:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29398947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shes_my_joy/pseuds/shes_my_joy
Summary: Sana’s a whimsical but profoundly lonely kitsune. Dahyun--poor, confused, Dahyun--has unknowingly caught the immortal’s undivided attention. Something equal-parts meaningful and chaotic grows from their strange first meeting.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Kim Dahyun/Minatozaki Sana, Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	Restless

If anyone had been walking down the hallway, they would be side-eyeing Dahyun as she grinned at the door to her shiny new apartment. She’d been frozen there for at least two minutes; her cheeks aching in protest told her that much. A few deliberate blinks, and Dahyun was snapping herself out of cloud nine and digging through her pocket for the key.

Who could blame her for being a bit out of it, though? A massive upgrade in living arrangements was bound to knock the wind out of anybody. And it was all thanks to her hard work that she was here.

Dahyun had been a producer and songwriter for JYP entertainment for about two years now. It was a bit of an unusual sight for the older members on the team; here was this 23 year-old kid from Seongnam, bombarding them with all sorts of suggestions, samples, and lyrics for the next biggest hit. But, much to their simultaneous chagrin and delight, Dahyun’s input proved to be quite valuable. It wasn’t long before she started getting assigned her own projects. Two years passed in a blur, and now Dahyun could proudly say she’d made it far enough to get a nice apartment. It was a lot for someone so young to accomplish.

Dahyun shifted her guitar case’s shoulder strap and flung the weighty door open, revealing a bright and sleek living room. To call it an apartment seemed like a gross understatement, really. She set the guitar down and let her eyes sweep over the space. The furnishings were immaculate; whoever designed this place certainly made Dahyun feel like a chaebol heiress, if that was the vibe they were going for.

She strolled up to the window wall and got lost in Seoul’s cityscape. This was the view that the elite got to indulge in without a passing thought. Dahyun certainly didn’t consider herself a part of their world, but she relished in the fact that she’d won a slice of the proverbial pie for herself. She was actually getting somewhere in life. That realization brought on a rush of excitement, a wave of giddiness flooding her system at the thought of her budding career.

And then Dahyun let out the most ungodly, undignified screech of joy she’s ever made. She skipped around the granite-topped island in the kitchen, and promptly launched herself at the giant corner couch in the living room. She plucked a fluffy pillow from its place and laugh-yelled right into it. “This is all mine! This pillow is _mine_ , oh my god...”

.

On the best of days, Sana loved to amuse herself with the inane affairs of mortals and other such happenings. Sometimes it was exhausting, trying to blend in and pretend like she was no different from anyone else. There were times when it felt like a dream, though. A distraction from those silly little existential crises of hers. On the bad days, well…she just wanted to be left alone, in peace and solitude. It was there, in her apartment, that Sana found respite from all the hustle and bustle of the modern world.

Today was one of _those_ days. It certainly didn’t help that whoever was next door kept screaming bloody murder...while also laughing?

She pulled the comforter over her head, hoping to block out the noise. It didn’t work.

That was the downside of having enhanced hearing; you just heard everything, whether you liked it or not. Sana lost count of how many times she wished she wasn’t built like an apex predator.

The minutes passed and they kept going. Dear gods, how long can one person whoop and screech for? Why did they have to go and die _here_ of all places? Sana’s eyebrows furrowed in discomfort as her ears begged for mercy. Oh great, now they were stomping around the place too. When the racket stopped, she cracked her eyes open experimentally. A glance at the bedside clock told her it was three in the afternoon. Strange.

Not strange in that Sana was still in bed so late into the day. No, that was pretty normal for her. But what killer murders someone in broad daylight, in an affluent complex like this no less? It was sloppy form.

Letting out an indignant groan, Sana hoisted herself from her bed and into a pair of slippers. This was just wonderful. Here she was, hair messy and clad in cute shiba inu-themed pyjamas. She didn’t look nearly intimidating enough for what she was about to do.

But alas, things like this can’t wait for her to get dressed properly. This person clearly had no decorum and her ears were still ringing. With inhuman speed, Sana found herself standing at the source of the offending noise.

The sight of the door made her head tilt in curiosity, a rush of vague recollections coming to mind. She didn’t care to pay much attention to her surroundings, but the last time Sana was home this apartment had been unoccupied. That was what she loved about this particular floor; most of the flats were rarely used. Something about rich people being too busy to linger in one place for too long.

The scents that lingered in the area were unfamiliar to her, too. Who the hell gets murdered on their first day in a new place? Sana rapt her fist against the door, perhaps more harsh than what was considered polite concern for a new neighbor. She figured the person inside had more important things to worry about.

When the door swung open, Sana came face-to-face with a very pretty woman. Dark hair, beautiful eyes, a nice smile. She looked a bit younger than her, too. Well, she was probably _a lot_ younger than Sana. No human would ever surpass her in age.

The woman’s smile quickly morphed into a confused frown. No doubt because of Sana’s state of dress, if her lingering eyes said anything. “...Yes?”

Huh.

Maybe she’d tolerate the noise if her neighbor was this cute. But the fact still stood that Sana had been rudely awakened. She was practically honor-bound to cause some mischief as payback, cute neighbor or not.

So with absolutely no warning, Sana poked her head through the door, forcing the other woman to backpedal at the sudden intrusion. No blood. No murder weapon. The distinct tang of iron was absent from the air. “Oh, so...there’s no killer. And you’re not dead,” Sana yawned loudly, then settled an accusatory stare on her new neighbor.

“Excuse me?” The producer laughed nervously, leaning further away from the offending head in her doorway. “Dead? Should I be? _Will_ I be?” Her clutch on the door knob had tightened and her shoulders squared. Her heartbeat spiked.

She’d already managed to freak out the poor human, score one for Sana. She retracted her head and smiled cheerfully. “No...not unless you keep screaming like that. Some of us would like to sleep, you know.” It was nice to have fun with cute girls, but better to actually accomplish what you set out to do. That was Sana’s current philosophy.

“It’s three in--”

“Ah _shush shush shush_.” A manicured finger hovered over the human’s lips. “Look, we all have our own circadian rhythms to follow.” Sana’s eyes flit up and down to study the producer momentarily. Nicely dressed, slightly disheveled. Aware and alert. “You seem like an early bird, and that’s fine, I get it. You like to torture yourself. But some people really need their beauty sleep.” Nevermind that Sana’s concept of an early bird was anyone who woke up before 2 P.M.

The woman’s eyes nearly crossed as she stared down at Sana’s finger. It was an adorable sight, really. “...I see. I--you’re very... _forward_ ,” she finished weakly.

“I get that a lot.”

There was an awkward lull in the conversation as the producer fidgeted under Sana’s expectant gaze. After a few long moments with no acknowledgement from her neighbor, Sana sighed. So this was going to require more elaboration. And some really terrible bullshitting. “You know,” she started, psyching herself up. “These walls aren’t as thick as the landlord advertises them to be.” As if to demonstrate her point, Sana stuck a whole arm through the door and knocked loudly on the wall. She winced dramatically and whined, “Ah! I heard that from all the way out _here_! In the _hallway_! It’s horrible, paying all this money for such cheap work!”

In truth, the walls were very thick and about the best money could buy. But not thick enough to dull a fox’s sharp ears.

It was a shoddy ruse, Sana knew that. If only she’d had her coffee first…

The human didn’t look convinced at all. In fact, she was looking at Sana like she’d grown a second head. It was sort of amusing to see, all grievances with the noise aside. Her eyes rapidly flit from the intruding arm to Sana’s poorly-concealed giggling. “Uh...right. I’ll be sure to keep it down, if that makes you feel better. Sorry to bother you, miss…?”

“You can call me Sana. And you are?”

“Dahyun. Kim Dahyun.”

“Kim Dahyun…” Sana sounded out the name experimentally, her gaze settling on Dahyun’s eyes. She pulled away from the threshold. “Well, I’m glad we’ve reached a mutual understanding, Dahyun-ssi. And congrats on your new apartment. I guess that’s...something to scream about.” She stifled a long yawn and began to shuffle back to her own apartment. “ _Maaaybe_ I’ll see you around. If you live long enough, or whatever.”

The producer did a double-take at. “I’m sorry, come again?” Dahyun stuck her head out the door to ask for clarification, more than a little terrified. But Sana was already gone. How did she do that? “What just happened?”

.

A few uneventful weeks passed by since then. Now, Dahyun was naturally inclined to give people she barely knew the benefit of the doubt. But something about her neighbor unsettled her. Sana went out of her way, whether consciously or not, to set Dahyun completely on edge.

They bumped into each other a grand total of three more times. It was always after dark, right when Dahyun got home for work. There was something surreal about watching an adult woman in cutesie pyjamas stumble through the hallway, the day’s mail clutched in one hand and a latte in the other. She really didn’t care about appearances, it seemed.

Sana would spot Dahyun first. Then she’d greet her with that eerie smile and the same line: that she was glad to see her alive. It never failed to disturb the producer. Was she supposed to expect something bad to happen?

Dahyun took Sana’s concerning statements into account and made good on her promise to keep quiet. She assumed that was the root of her neighbor’s strangeness; she’d been too loud on the first day and was now on Sana's bad side. So, the TV volume stayed at a modest eleven or twelve. She used headphones when working and never raised her voice. Well, it wasn’t like there was anyone to talk to, but still. It was the principle of it all. She even postponed a celebratory housewarming get-together with Tzuyu and Chaeyoung for fear of incurring Sana’s wrath.

What freaked Dahyun out the most was that at some point, she stopped seeing her neighbor all together. Not when she left for work in the morning, and not when she returned at night. It was like she disappeared into thin air.

The logical reaction was to be incensed, of course. Sana was not at home it seemed, and here Dahyun was going through all this trouble for her sake. But as the weeks approached a full month and a half with no signs of life from next door, Dahyun gradually found herself worrying even more. Her neighbor’s preference for making cryptic remarks about life and death just added on to the welling anxiety. What if her initial thoughts were true? What if Sana was on a cross-country murder spree? What had she’d gotten herself into, moving here and causing a ruckus?

That was what her jittery brain decided to wrestle with on the drive home from work one night. There were other things to worry about too, of course. Like how she was going to build up to the chorus in the ITZY song she’d been working on. What snacks to bring to game night with the girls. Or what to eat for dinner. All very important things.

Dahyun had been so lost in thought, in fact, that she accidentally shouldered past someone to get on the elevator up to the residential area. “Oh, sorry about that,” she mumbled absentmindedly, before returning to her predicaments. Mercilessly smashing the ‘18’ button on the fixture was one of them.

An airy voice pierced through the producer’s haze-filled mind in an instant. One that was all too familiar. “Well nice to see you too, Dahyun-ssi.”

And then a gloved hand shot out, like a monster’s talons, to catch the elevator doors.

“Oh my god!” The producer nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight--wait. _Wait_. No, this was bad. The elevator was the worst place to be if the horror movies told her anything. She tried to think of some lame excuse to get off, but there really was no use. Her escape was blocked by the source of her recent distress.

Dahyun could only watch helplessly as Sana stepped in looking like she walked off a runway. She was dressed in a light grey suit that hugged her figure and cut a sharp silhouette. Large pearls adorned her ears and she wore the thickest, most gaudiest diamond choker Dahyun had ever seen. The look was topped off with black gloves and thigh-high platformers. Sana’s makeup was immaculately done. Not a single hair on her head was out of place.

No wonder Dahyun didn’t recognize her immediately. They might have met only four times (and briefly at that), but for some reason she expected Sana to be walking around in pyjamas again.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for a few minutes now, but you just shoved me out of the way and ignored me.” Sana pouted cutely at her. As if on cue, the doors closed behind her neighbor, sealing Dahyun’s fate.

The producer backed up against the wall, eyes blown wide. “I...I…” It really didn’t help that Sana was dressed to kill, figuratively and probably literally. Her brain, the flopping mess that it was, couldn’t decide whether to focus on how gorgeous Sana looked or what her last words should be. “Sorry? Today’s been a weird day, I guess?”

Sana, amused as ever, towering over Dahyun in those fancy boots. “Has it? You don’t seem very convinced of that, Dahyun-ssi.”

“Oh no, it has.” Dahyun found some stupid, idiotic strength return to her wavering voice. She was probably going to regret her next choice of words. “Work’s been rough. And I’ve been thinking that maybe my neighbor is some kind of serial killer.”

.

.

.

The floor indicator clicked as they passed the seventh floor. Generic, oddly-soothing music filtered quietly through the sound system…

The look on Sana’s face was priceless. If Dahyun had to make a comparison, it’d be to the surprised doge meme. The resemblance was uncanny. That was a small comfort in the face of death.

But then her neighbor was howling with a sort of high-pitched whimsical laughter. “You thought what? _Me?_ A s-serial--of all the things--” She couldn’t finish a coherent sentence because apparently the thought was too funny to even entertain.

Dahyun just stood there and watched Sana lose her mind, slack-jawed. Then she crossed her arms when Sana had the gall to start slapping her leg and pointing at Dahyun, like she was some kind of clown. All that pent-up fear and worry was gone in an instant. Her neighbor had a knack for not taking things seriously and it was getting on her nerves.

“I mean you implied, multiple times I might add, that I was gonna die! And every time we see each other it’s ‘ _Dahyun-ssi! You’re still alive, good for you!_ ’” she mocked. “How else am I supposed to take that?”

Sana straightened, wiped away a stray tear, and sighed in content. “Oh, you’re hung up on that? Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing,” she reassured dubiously, with a sly grin. “If it really bothers you that much, I’ll stop.”

Dahyun scoffed. “Wow, thanks. Yeah, that’d be appreciated.”

There was something in Sana’s countenance--the subtle twitch of her lips and eyebrows, the shifty gaze--that gave Dahyun the impression it was anything _but_ nothing. Like she’d caught Sana red-handed in some illicit act. What exactly that was, Dahyun couldn’t say. And it was gone in the next moment, smoothed over.

“Trust me. If I killed someone, it’d be plastered all over the news,” Sana remarked innocently, blinking a few times for effect. That wasn’t very comforting to Dahyun.

“...And who are you, exactly?”

“Somebody with a lot of money.”

The producer rolled her eyes. “I noticed. Everyone's got money around here.” She shook her head, then, “Well, you disappeared for like a month, too!” She threw her hands in the air for emphasis, like that would be the one damning clue to ruin Sana’s alleged facade.

“Aww, were you counting down the days? That’s so cute,” Sana cooed, then made a show of flipping her hair over her shoulders. “Well, when you’re the CEO of a big corporation, sometimes you go out on business trips. Long ones. Do you know how hard it is to secure British investors when you’re not really fluent in English, _Dahyun-ssi?_ ”

Dahyun’s eyes narrowed. “You sound so patronizing when you say my name. And you don’t seem like the type to run a business.” She was and wasn’t surprised at the same time. People living in complexes like these were typically well-to-do, but Dahyun had a hard time picturing Sana working a job. She thought that maybe her neighbor was a lazy socialite living on an inheritance. Or some mafia boss’s daughter.

Sixteenth floor. She was almost home free.

There was that pout again. “Ouch. I’ll have you know that I’m a _very_ busy person, who’s also _super_ professional and _totally_ responsible.” Sana reaffirmed her claims with a wise nod, offset by that high-pitched voice. “I can be a hardass too, you know.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Dahyun wasted no time in walking out and making a beeline for her door, her neighbor hot on her heels. “Uh-huh, I’m sure you can,” she snorted. “What type of business do you do anyways?”

Sana clicked her tongue. “Oh I don’t think so. You don’t get to make assumptions about me and ask 20 questions for free, Dahyun-ssi.” There was hardly any bite to Sana’s tone. She seemed entirely unbothered by the situation, even enjoying it. “What do _you_ do for a living?”

Dahyun paused. She hadn’t been very nice to Sana, had she? Her neighbor wasn’t a serial killer, no. Just a bit morbid, or weird, or something. She could stand to be nicer, even if Sana was proving to be quite exasperating. “That’s...a fair point, actually. I work in the music industry. I produce songs for idols.”

To her credit, Sana seemed genuinely interested. “Really? Do you work for an entertainment company?” Or are you freelance?”

“Oh, I’m with JYP.” They were both standing at their respective doors now, Dahyun fiddling for her keys and Sana watching her.

“JYP, huh?” Sana scratched her head in confusion and glanced up, mumbling to herself. “ _Why does that ring a bell again?_ ”

Dahyun had managed to get her door open before turning back to Sana. “What was that?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing! Nothing at all.” She was quick to dismiss the conversation with a waved hand and a charming smile. “Have a good night, Dahyun-ssi.”

“...You too, Sana-ssi.”

* * *

The title was inspired by BIBI’s song Restless. I think that song kind of encompasses the direction I want the story to go in. I highly recommend giving it a listen if you haven't already! Also, I apologize if my writing seems all over the place or if the pacing is weird. I’m trying not to overthink things and dwell too much on stuff. I really just want this to be a silly little project. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


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